1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scanning laser microscopes.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-276079, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Known scanning laser microscopes in the related art include those using a multipoint scanning method for reducing the image acquisition time (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications, Publication Nos. Hei 5-60980 and Hei. 10-311950).
The scanning laser microscope disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 5-60980 uses a Nipkow disk and a microlens array. The scanning laser microscope disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. Hei 10-311950 uses a microlens array or a laser diode array to form multiple beam spots, and the beam spots are scanned by two deflectors, such as galvanometer mirrors.
In the scanning laser microscopes disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications, Publication Nos. Hei 5-60980 and Hei 10-311950, by scanning multiple scanning spots over a specimen simultaneously, it is possible to scan a certain area of the specimen within a short time compared to scanning with a single scanning spot.